Not even close to the grunt of a big block, not even the lowly 383. lol
The worst thing Mopar ever did is to put a low compression 360 in a 5000# truck
I believe it was all about the "long" stroke for a work truck. The slant 6's did well, with its long stroke. I had a 67' Dodge HD w/ the slant 6 and grainy gear and it was a work horse.